DeLorean Motor Company

Brief History About DeLorean

DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) was founded in 1975 in the USA by John DeLorean. John DeLorean was a well known engineer and the youngest person to become a General Motors executive.

Finance came from several sources including the Bank of America, the British government, Sammy Davis Jr and Johnny Carson. The factory for building the cars was setup in Northern Ireland. This was because John DeLorean apparently wanted to use a country with low employment. The cars were due to be built for 1979, but engineering delays held that off until 1981. Also due to the lack of experienced workers, the quality of the cars at the beginning were less than satisfactory, until quality control was implemented.

Unfortunately there was a lack of demand, with sales at half of what was required to break even and combined with spiralling costs, led John DeLorean to become involved/coerced into a drug trafficking incident in 1982, that he was later acquitted of, due to what the courts said was entrapment by the FBI. The company then also became bankrupt in 1982.

The DeLorean car later became famous for appearing in the 1985 ‘Back to the Future’ movie and subsequent sequels of the movie thereafter and with such a fan following, the company name was revived by Stephen Wynne (DeLorean Texas). The new company, then acquired all remaining parts and rights for the car and can reproduce and even build complete cars from original/new parts. In 2011 an electric prototype was built for consideration for future production.